Oh, what a year

And what can it teach us?

Randy Eller -- Home Accents Today, 12/1/2009 12:00:00 AM

Well, I'm finally ready to say what most of us have been waiting to hear all year ... It's almost over!

I know for certain that most every long-term veteran of this industry would agree that 2009 has been one of the most difficult years in the history of this industry, as well as for our country.

If you're reading this, then it means you have probably survived the worst part of this recession, you are still in business, and that means you are very, very good at what you do. Congratulations!

In just a few short days, all of us will be headed for winter markets, and we will want more than anything to put 2009 behind us and "hit the road running," focusing only on the future.

Not so fast my friends.

While 2009 is still fresh on your mind, don't miss the best opportunity you will ever have to think through and document the things that you did right (and the things that you did wrong), that helped you get through this year. Why? Because most people want to forget about and move on from difficult times, without ever properly analyzing the decisions they made and the actions they took that may have put them into a problem in the first place or prolonged the agony once they got there.

First, think back to when the good times were rolling. If you are like many, you probably did some things in your business that were beyond what you should have, and it left you overexposed moving into the recession. Did you have too much inventory? Were you renting too much space, paying too much for your lease, or both? Did you have unneeded employees? Get a little lazy on the old expense accounts?

Whatever the issues were that helped put you into a tough spot this year, list them out right now while they are fresh on your mind. Put that document somewhere where you can review it twice a year. And don't ever do those things again, no matter how good things look.

Next, what about the year 2009 itself? I'm sure most of you took actions this year that you felt were needed to survive. Ask yourself the tough questions right now. Did you make the appropriate decisions? Did you do them early enough? What other issues should you have addressed in hindsight? Add to this list as you see fit, but again, the exercise here is to review all your actions this year for posterity to know how to have a better plan the next time it happens.

By the way, that last statement is very critical. This will all happen again.

No one out there knows exactly when or what "bubble" will cause it. It may even be something totally unrelated to business, such as a natural disaster or some other unknown event. But, what we all now know for certain is these things do happen. The real question is what have we learned from all of this and how can it help us the next time around?

Now, let's look to 2010. I know you are planning for markets and I know a lot of thoughts are going through your head. Let me suggest some of the most critical things I think you need to be thinking about.

What is your competitive landscape in this new world we are in? Whether you are a vendor, a retailer or a rep, chances are you have a lot of competitors who have not survived 2009. What is a realistic view of how that will affect your business moving forward? Act upon it.

Next, what do you truly believe the economic reality of 2010 will be? Goodness knows, between the Internet, newspapers and the television, you can get every opinion in the world as to what 2010 is going to look like. So, if you haven't already done so, listen, read, and think over the next few weeks ... a lot.

After you've digested all the information, just make the call. That's right, at the end of the day, only you can decide what you believe 2010 will be and pull the trigger on whatever decisions need to be made to meet that expectation. Just don't do it in a vacuum. Read, listen and ask good questions.

Get ready to execute. While 2009 may have been the year that separated the winners from the losers, I believe 2010 will be the year that dynasties are begun. The best performers as vendors, retailers or reps will benefit from rapid consolidation in this industry and true long-term powerhouse companies will begin to emerge.

It's time to decide if you're going to be a major beneficiary of the chaos we've been through, or just be a B or C player in your market. Whoever said business was boring?